Indian Railways bets big on solar and wind power! Check visionary move by national transporter
Indian Railways has already launched a pilot project for land-based power plants. Under this project, a three-megawatt plant has been installed at the Modern Coach Factory (MCF), Raebareli.
Indian Railways pushes for clean-green energy! Taking forward its green energy initiative, Indian Railways has decided to offer land, which is lying vacant, to install 500-megawatt solar power plants. These solar power plants will fulfill the energy requirement of the national transporter. As part of an ambitious plan, Indian Railways is aiming to install 200-MW wind plants and 500-MW solar power plants by 2021-22 across the zones and production units (PUs), as per a PTI report. The 500-MW solar power plants will be installed atop roofs of buildings belonging to Indian Railways. The installation process will be carried out under the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model.
Indian Railways has already launched a pilot project for land-based power plants. Under this project, a three-megawatt plant has been installed at the Modern Coach Factory (MCF), Raebareli. Apart from this, the work underway for a 50-MW plant on a 300-acre vacant railway land in Bhilai. This plant is scheduled to be commissioned by March 2021, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav was quoted as saying in the report.
Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL), which has awarded the 50-MW plant in Bhilai, has floated tenders for 93-MW solar plants as well. Soon, 111-MW solar plants will be considered as well. A 45-MW rooftop solar capacity is scheduled for opening on January 27, 2020. The work is going on for 154 MW, Yadav said.
Yadav asserted that these plants will help reduce carbon emissions and carbon footprints. Sixteen stations have been declared ‘Green’ railway stations for meeting their energy needs completely either through solar or by wind, he said.
Indian Railways has taken up pilot projects for land-based solar projects. These two pilot projects are the Diwana Solar Plant Project and Bina Solar Project. While Diwana Solar Plant Project is scheduled to be completed by March 2020, the Bina Solar Project will be completed by February 2020.
REMCL has also floated tenders for two hybrid (solar and wind) plants of 140 MW and 109 MW capacity.
Source: financialexpress
